RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

The Coalition has already allowed self-governing academies and free schools to prioritise children who attract the premium, but other state schools must still apply for dispensation from the Department for Education.

The Government is considering extending the freedom to all other state schools, although there will be no legal requirement for schools to change their admissions criteria.

More than half of England’s 163 state grammars have already indicated that they plan to rewrite admissions criteria to give priority to the poorest pupils – and many more selective schools could follow suit.

The change, which is under consultation, will give 14,000 more primary schools and more than 1,000 secondaries the power to prioritise the poorest youngsters in their admissions.

In a second planned change, primary schools will be able to give priority to poor children who attend a nursery attached to the school. But the idea was already provoking controversy last night, with critics warning it could encourage parents to enrol children in schools at two.

The Government also plans to make it clear to schools that parents of summer-born children can ask for them to start reception classes at five – a year later than usual. Education officials must consider each request and state reasons for refusal.

Under the consultation published yesterday, schools would be allowed to discriminate in favour of children who attract pupil-premium funding because they are on free school meals or have been registered for them over the previous six years.

The document said it would ‘allow schools the opportunity to support the least advantaged’.

A DfE spokesman said: ‘These changes will improve the fair and open allocation of school places and ensure every child receives a first-class education.’

But Neil Leitch, of the Pre-School Learning Alliance, which represents private nurseries, said: ‘We are concerned about the detrimental impact this could have on families.’